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The Genetics of Conservation: An Introductory Course on Data Collection and Analysis

PRESENTACIÓN / PRESENTATION

This intensive, 5-day course (taught in English) will focus on how data are collected and analyzed by conservation geneticists in their study of threatened species. Designed for working conservation biologists, the course will first explore the challenges of sample collection, DNA isolation, and the more common problems associated with amplifying genetic loci. The majority of the course, however, will focus on two of the most widely used methods of acquiring genetic data: DNA sequencing and microsatellite analysis.

Nuclear, mitochondrial and plastid loci will be examined as sources of DNA sequence variation at the species, subspecies and population levels. By generating sequence alignments, statistics, phylogenetic trees and haplotype networks, students will analyze data taken from the conservation genetics literature. Brief discussions of microsatellite loci identification, amplification, and scoring issues will be followed by calculation of
genetic diversity indices, null allele frequencies, and the likelihood of bottlenecks. Various phylogenetic tree-building models and the popular Bayesian clustering method Structure will be used to assess population structure from microsatellite data. Throughout the course, the biological and phylogeographical interpretation of results and their application to conservation will be stressed.

OBJETIVO/ OBJETIVE:

To introduce nongeneticists (or those new to conservation genetics) to the common data analysis methods and software used in the discipline.

DIRIGIDO A / IT IS AIMED AT:

Professionals in biological sciences or equivalents who are interested in conservation genetics.